Dealers Diary

A name to note for 2011, Daniel Crouch of Daniel Crouch Rare Books, who until last September worked for noted London antiquarian books and maps specialist Bernard Shapero.

He branched out on his own and rapidly made his mark. I first came across him when he made his debut as an independent dealer at the Haughtons’ International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show in New York in late October. He took to New York an exceptional stock, with prices to over $2m, including the first map in an atlas devoted to the Americas. I next bumped into Daniel when I went to Apter-Fredericks’ Christmas drinks in December and he had taken over the first floor of the Fulham Road showrooms to launch his first London exhibition. This was an impressive solo London entrance with a well-received opening party and, more importantly, a fine selling exhibition of the Gestetner Collection of Maritime Atlases and Voyages. The exhibition was accompanied by the first Crouch hardback catalogue.

For the time being Daniel is working with his partner Nick Trimming out of an office in Oxford, but he has plenty of plans for 2011, not least of them a move as soon as possible to a London gallery, preferably in London or Chelsea.